Eve Ferrara with her dad, Bud Quincy

Eve Walks in Memory of Dad

Donald “Bud” Quincy was a father, husband, sculptor, painter, art teacher, photographer and a musician who loved jazz and big band music. He served in the U.S. Army and retired as a staff sergeant. He was a drum major in the Army band and later marched in parades with the National Guard. He and his wife Jane, an actress and business woman, raised their two daughters, Eve and Elizabeth, in Foxborough.

“I enlisted in the Army having grown up listening to Dad’s stories and saw how proud he was of his service,” said Eve, his younger daughter. “My dad and I were very close; he called me his best friend, his buddy, and he called me ‘Chum.’ Everybody called my dad Bud. I remember, when I was 5 or 6, someone called the house and asked for Donald, and I told them they had the wrong number. He thought that was hysterical. He loved being on the water, camping and golfing. He would take me to the golf course and let me drive the cart if no one else was around.”

In 2017 Bud and Jane were living in Cambridge when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. When his condition worsened during the summer of 2021, Eve stopped working as a nurse and moved in with her parents to help care for her dad. Home life became more complicated when Jane was diagnosed with a heart condition, which required intermittent hospital stays for four months.

“In those months I spent with dad, we watched a lot of pro football – we’re avid fans of the Patriots, Kansas City and Tampa Bay—and we spent hours on YouTube listening to Duke Ellington, Count Basie or Tommy Dorsey,” Eve said. “I cooked his favorite foods and we had a lot of laughs even during the tough times. I prepared a memory book for him of my favorite pictures of the two of us. Every day I went to the hospital to visit mom and came home with messages for dad, trying to keep him at ease.”

After Jane came home, the family started thinking about bringing in hospice to provide additional help and support. “Mom found Care Dimensions, and our hospice team came to the house the next day to attend to his needs,” Eve said.

“When I met Bud, my first step was to assess his symptoms and understand what he could do physically,” said RN Case Manager Buffey Anchordoqui. “Then I spoke with each family member about how they could help provide the care he needed. Our hospice team focused on Bud to make him comfortable, but we also provide emotional support to the family supporting the patient.”

“I’ve worked in healthcare for nine years, so I was more acutely aware of his failing health,” Eve said. “It was a relief to have the Care Dimensions hospice team take over his medical management, so I could focus more on just being his daughter. My dad wanted to be home and Care Dimensions made that possible, allowing all of us to enjoy being together.

“Hospice support takes away the family’s stress of 24-hour care so the family can enjoy their loved one. That’s what Care Dimensions does; it takes the pressure away,” she added. “Many people assume hospice indicates immediate death, within a week, but it’s not that at all. It’s comfort care for the patient and family, and can be provided for months, often extending the patient’s life because symptoms are being managed.”

In January 2022, Bud died peacefully at home. A few months later Eve heard about the Care Dimensions annual Walk for Hospice and was among the first to register her team, DAQ BUD, in memory of her dad. “It’s my goal to raise essential funds to support Care Dimension’s expert and compassionate care for patients and their families when they need it most. The hospice team who supported my father were wonderful to him and to us. I encourage everyone to come out and join us on October 2.”

To support Eve and her Walk for Hospice, click here.

You, too, can start a team to support Care Dimensions’ 35th Walk for Hospice and ensure compassionate care is available for patients and families — click here to register your team.

About the author

Robin Ellington is a Care Dimensions Communications Specialist.